


Lady Marinette?

by rockinellie



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-18 13:19:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7316806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rockinellie/pseuds/rockinellie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adrien asks Marinette to make him something after he figures out accidentally that she is Ladybug. It's basically pure fluff and my ideal take on the "reveal" scenario.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Design of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for my own amusement but figured I'd share it as it's the most polished of my works right now and I didn't want to leave my AO3 blank! It will most likely get continued, so I've left it kind of open. I know i have a problem with ...'s so I'll probably edit this sometime to get rid of a million of them. :)

The day had been long. Midterms were up, and Adrien was having a little trouble keeping up with modeling, homework, and being one of Paris’ heroes. Even without the heroics he thought it was a pretty difficult life, with early photoshoots and late ones, too. So his regular, ordinary life would have been enough to juggle, but he had another life too now. One that many people counted on, whether or not he wanted to sleep longer that day. The akuma had taken over a fast food worker, so he and Ladybug had spent their afternoon fighting that, and now he was racing along the rooftops in a fresh suit. His Father had prepared a fitting, and as he glanced at the sunset he knew he was going to be late.

In his suit he could hear much better than normal, and it was that reason alone he had even caught a familiar voice. At the end of every Akuma attack he and Ladybug ran their separate ways, to keep their identities a secret from each other, but he had gotten a snack and headed back out, somehow circling back to her, apparently. Her voice now lifted through the air to his ears, and without thinking he headed for it.

Darkness cloaked him as he slid down a rooftop, coming to a halt to see where Ladybug was and why she was out-maybe something was going on! Since he was already late, it didn’t matter much that he would be later now. His smarmy smile slipped when he saw it wasn’t Ladybug, well, not exactly. The building was what caught his eye first, the bakery where his friend Marinette lived. Curious about why Marinette would need checking up on, he cautiously got closer, hoping he wasn’t discovered. It was in this fashion that he caught the girl sitting on her rooftop, lazing on a pink recliner. One arm was draped over her eyes, so he knew he hadn’t been spotted, and she was talking on the phone. He crept closer, never having seen Marinette’s balcony before…and, well, while they were friends they weren’t especially close. She looked so forlorn, too, he felt bad that he couldn’t help alleviate whatever troubles ailed her.

“oh, it’s no use Alya.”

Ah, that made sense, Chat thought to himself. Alya was Marinette’s closest friend, after all. Feeling better that he wasn’t the /only/ friend who didn’t have her number (probably) he settled in to spy. If anyone caught him he could play the superhero card.   
“Let it be said that curiosity killed the cat,” Chat whispered, smiling at his own joke in the darkness.

Marinette rolled onto her stomach, her hand falling over the edge of her chair to play with something. Light came from a little glass window on the floor of the roof, which gave him plenty of lighting to see her with. She was nodding to the phone, and he smiled. What a dork.

“It’s fine, really, if Adrien really likes another girl, I mean…we can still be friends.” This sentence was accompanied by a heavy sigh, and Chat’s stomach dropped as did his little smile. Oh. Oh, he was why she was sad. His breathing stopped so he could listen harder, trying to catch Alya’s end. There was more nodding on Marinette’s, and then shortly she bid her friend good night. Feeling out of sorts now that he knew too much (that’s what he got for spying) Chat made to move when a second, chipper voice sounded out. His ears swiveled forward and he looked back at Marinette without thinking, just in time to catch-was that a Kwami?

“Oh, Marinette!” The little red and black bug said gently, floating up to stroke Marinette’s cheek, “I’m very sorry! But we don’t even know if it’s true or not!”

“Tikki, it was silly anyway. Adrien? Adrien Agreste? Why would he ever notice the silly girl who sits behind him in class.” Marinette sighed, rubbing the tiny head of her friend. “This other girl must be something wonderful.”

Chat silently crept closer during their conversation, until he was over them, hidden in the shadows cast from her own light. His breath caught in his throat-yes that was a Kwami. Yes, it was, and it was black and red and currently trying to cheer up the sweet girl.

“Marinette! You are special! You’re Ladybug! How much more special could you be?” 

The world was spinning, and Chat dug his nails into the roof to try to keep his balance. Marinette?! Marinette-the sweet, mild-mannered girl who sat silently behind him all year, who barely spoke two words to him? They’d had some bonding, fine, but she honestly knew Chat better than Adrien! His mind was reeling, and he quickly jumped away, racing forwards. Where he ended up didn’t matter, he just needed a moment for his mind to stop spinning, to try to figure this out, to try to…to…oh my God. He sent her on a date with Nino. His Lady, he’d sent her on a date with his best friend! And the whole time-no. He had to focus on running or he might get hurt. 

That’s all there was for a while, the sound of him jumping and running, his breath coming out in smokey huffs as he exhaled. Winter was coming, and he hoped that his Kwami would make him a warmer outfit. He dropped down under a bridge, catching his breath for a moment. Jumping up into the supports he sat with his feet dangling and just…staring. Marinette was Ladybug. His Lady was Marinette. It was so obvious, now, that he laughed bitterly at having never seen it before. This whole time he could have had her, he figured, if her disappointment at his being interested in someone was an indication.

But, oh, no. Ladybug always rebuffed Chat’s affections, deftly placing herself into the realm of friendship before he even had a chance to even get her a little over the line. No, if Marinette knew who he was, certainly she would never be interested. Beyond that, though, he reasoned, there was no way the conversation was how it sounded. Marinette barely spoke around him, the only time he could remember her being lively around him before was…during that video game championship. He buried his face in his claws, dragging them through his hair. Oh, man, this was bad. Investigate. His paws dropped, and he stood up quickly. Investigate, yes, good, he could do that! As Chat, who Marinette knew pretty well. They’d talked a few times, she’d helped him out of precarious situations in a couple of instances. He’d also saved her once or twice, so there was that. He was already racing back to her place when the tell-tale beep of his Miraculous caught his attention. Hell. Turning towards his house, he vowed to investigate tomorrow. As soon as possible.

 

The Agreste Driver was tired. He wasn’t usually, Adrien was a good boy and very quiet. But Adrien had called for the vehicle early, saying he had to trade notes with his partner in some project. Thus he had to get up even earlier than normal to drive the boy. But Adrien didn’t notice, he was relaying his plan again and again. Today, at school, he was going to get as close as possible to Marinette. And then, after evening set, after his patrol, he was going to go visit Marinette as Chat. Very reasonable. He had stationed himself near her locker, idly looking through his phone while he waited. It didn’t take too long, although he was surprised, as she was almost late every day now. He smiled up at her when she walked towards him, and she faltered, her step slowing, her gaze glancing around. Then she smiled shyly back, her cheeks tinting pink. Adrien waited until she got closer and opened up her locker, looking shy and kind of confused, before he started to talk.

“You sew, right?” He could smack himself, it sounded so stupid. Of course she did, she won a competition for it.

Marinette glanced at him, her blush darkening while she nodded quickly. “Mhmm.”

This was going well. Adrien felt around for something to talk about, “See, uhh, I’d like it if you’d sew me a jacket.”

“What?” She slammed her locker shut, mouth dropping open, and everyone glance their way, making her cute little face bunch up. “I mean, um, why?”

There was a brief moment of silence while he tried not to think of her as his Lady, to only see his friend Marinette. It was much harder to do, now especially that he could see what she shared with his lovely Lady. Her hair was the most obvious, but his eyes were especially focused on her eyes and expressions. Ladybug had always been animated, but he’d rarely seen her as flustered as her civilian counterpart. If this was because she liked him, he reasoned he could work around it eventually.

“Why?” Adrien was aghast, “Because you’re good. And I’ve never had something made for me before. I’ll pay you, of course, whatever seamstresses make or more or whatever you think is fair. But I’d really like a Marinette Original inspired and created for me.” He smiled, and watched as Marinette fumbled, “Please?”

Marinette sighed a bit and only said, “Oui, I will do it! I…I…I have to go.” And off she ran, basically fleeing from him. Adrien rubbed his neck, frowning. That was going pretty well he thought. Was it too much too soon, maybe? 

By the time class started, both Alya and Nino were looking expectant, and Marinette was busy drawing in her sketchpad. Adrien said a ‘hello’ at them all, but only the two responded. Nino was looking at him quizzically, and Alya was looking intrigued. But neither could really ask him much with Marinette so close. His Lady, his beautiful, confident, Lady, so close. He smiled at Marinette, bent over her sketchpad so seriously, her lower lip held between her teeth as her blue eyes flicked around the paper. How could he have missed it? Even if she didn’t like him, just looking at her now he could see the confidence behind her eyes, the intelligence on her face. Not to mention all the times she’d helped Chat as a civilian. Even without her Miraculous she was amazing.  
“Uh, Adrien?” Nino said gently, waving his hand in front of the boy’s face. Adrien started, then blushed himself before turning back around. Alya was whispering wildly to Marinette, who made a little noise and that was it from her. Not once did he catch her looking his way, or making that silly smile he’d caught a few times from her. Not once did he catch her in a weird slew of her own words that barely made sense. At lunch he tried to stop her, to ask her out, but she had run by so quickly he was left staring at an annoyed Alya. So he’d waited until after class was out, trying to grab her attention again, but twice now she’d ran by, though he caught ‘jacket’ and ‘soon okay’ as she rushed by. Agitated, he went to practice. Plagg floated up from his jacket as soon as they were alone, much to Adrien’s dismay.

“Today went reaaaal good, Casanova.”

“I think…we made some progress.” Adrien said slowly, “She offered to make the jacket.”

“You asked, she obliged. After payment was mentioned.” Plagg dodged a swipe from his annoyed companion.

Adrien scowled, “Hey, I’m trying here…Marinette and my lady are the same. If I can make her fall for both sides of me, then wouldn’t that be better than just loving Chat?”

“Mmm, love is complicated. I don’t do complicated. Tikki was made for that kind of talk.” Plagg lazily laid on Adrien’s shoulder, “Maybe you should talk to her next time you’re at Marinette’s.”

Adrien was looking thoughtful, “Well, it’s really only fair if I love Marinette as much as I love my Lady, right? If I want her to feel confused and torn between Chat and Adrien…I should love both of her sides too.”

The kwami on his shoulder sat up, alarmed, “Wait, you’re not going to tell her? You should definitely tell her.”

“No, she…she doesn’t like me. Really any of me.” Adrien rubbed his neck, chewing his lip, “She said she likes Adrien but she barely talks to me. I want to be sure she likes at least half of me. I’ll go see her tonight, as Chat, feel it out…she liked him fine as Marinette…”

“Well, she had to seem impressed: a hero was talking to her.” 

 

That didn’t sit right with Adrien. Not from that moment, not during his nightly patrol, and not as he hopped across the rooftops of Paris towards the bakery. Marinette was not on the balcony this time. Her rooftop was empty, but the light was on in the room. He could just drop in, right? He’d knock first, probably, in case she was changing, but it should be fine, he figured. Taking a deep breath, he stealthily dropped to her roof, crawling across and peeking into the window. It led straight to her bed, to his surprise. Chat gently rapped his fingers on it, and a moment later, a curious Marinette appeared in the corner. He smiled widely, waving, and she motioned that it was open, slipping out of view. He landed on her bed on his knees, trying to keep his shoes off her comforter. At the foot of the bed was a ladder, and he deftly climbed down, landing with a soft ‘thump’ as he dropped the last two steps. Straightening up he looked around. Having been here before he didn’t expect much different, but right now it was kind of…messy. Not something he pictured Marinette being.

“Chat Noir!” Marinette said cheerily, “wow, here in my room! What, I mean why are you here? Shouldn’t you be doing superhero stuff?”

Chat turned to her, smiling. “I am. I heard rumor you had a rough day and were acting weird, so I wanted to stop in on you since we’re friends.” He was looking around at the mess, and eventually Marinette’s eyes followed his. Pieces of paper littered the ground, and on her computer a screen was pulled up, dozens of photos of him…he narrowed his eyes. A google search. Hm.

“Oh.” Marinette giggled a bit, blushing, quickly collecting the papers from the ground, “I’m so sorry, gosh, a superhero in my room and it looking like a mess! I’m working on a very special project and just…just nothing seems to be working out!” She put all the balls into a little trashcan, and then gestured to a fainting couch in the middle of her room. “You can sit, Chat Noir, if you want.”

Chat was watching her curiously. She was much more comfortable with Chat than with Adrien. Interesting. After sitting on her little couch he looked around the room some more, taking in each little detail he hadn’t noticed before in silence. Marinette shifted, heading over to her computer. “Does that happen a lot?” Chat asked suddenly, startling Marinette.

“What? Oh, not working? Sometimes, if it’s important…”

“It’s important, this project?” Chat leaned forward onto his knees, trying to look interested and friendly.

Marinette’s pretty eyes blinked slowly at him, and then she smiled shyly, “Yes. Possibly the most important thing I’ve done…the second being the hat competition I won…Well, if this goes well anyway.”

Both of those things had to do with him, he realized with a slight jolt. Chat’s mouth opened to form another question when he saw, behind her, framed and on her desk, a photo of him. A very nice photo. A photo from a magazine. Framed and on her desk. The wall beside her computer, too, and he wagered that perhaps the reason she hadn’t minimized her screen wasn’t because she was using it, but because maybe the background was more embarrassing than a google image search. Marinette looked where he did, flushing red at once.

“That’s-ah-you know, Adrien Agreste? You do. Of course you do, you helped rescue him during the Gamer incident.” Marinette mumbled, looking at her lap, “He’s-um-well-a fashion icon. The son of my favorite designer, actually! And that’s what I want to do!” 

Chat looked at her, “And your crush?”

“WHAT!” Marinette cried, eyes flickering up to his, “No! No, no, no way! Adrien Agreste? THE Adrien Agreste? There’s-oh!” She laughed, trying to make it sound real but falling flat, “You are so ridiculous! He’s just a-a-boy! Yep. Fashion model. Huge inspiration.”  
Chat’s tail flicked behind him, and his eyes narrowed, but after a moment he smiled easily. “Well, I always frame photos of my same-age fashion inspirations too.”

Marinette bit her lip again, shifting before admitting, quietly, “Yeah, okay, I like him a-a little. But don’t tell anyone.”

“Moi?” Chat touched a hand to his chest, eyes wide, before he jumped off the couch, touching her chin, “I won’t tell a soul, Princess~ I just thought we had something special, forgive me for being jealous?”

“Oh,” Marinette was surprised, then laughed a bit easier, “What about your Ladybug?”

“My Ladybug? We are partners in crime-fighting, princess, what do you mean?” Chat purred, stroking her lips with the tip of his nail. Marinette pulled back, quickly, looking confused.

“Wait, so why-no, why are you here?”

Chat dropped back onto her couch, closing his eyes, “Just checking in, making sure you are alright.”

He hinted annoyance in her voice, and he smiled. There she was, his Lady, coming out. “I’m sorry, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You were acting weird at school, I heard, and your school seems to be a prime area for Akuma attacks.”

“Weird how?”

Chat gestured a claw idly at her computer, “That, for one, is a bit weird.” 

“I’m looking up photos of his fashion, so I’ll know what he likes, so I can make a better jacket!” Marinette protested, “I want him to love it, I wanted him to know I cared…I guess it sounds silly to you, since your emotions flick around.”

“I doubt his personal style matches that which others pick for him. He’s a model, after all.” Chat was stretched out and comfortable, until her last sentence stung him. He sat up, incredulous, “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re clearly in love with Ladybug, but you’re flirting with me.” Marinette said idly, turning away from him at last, looking over her photos with a scrutinizing eye. “You know, you do have a point though. Do you know him?”

“I know he’s a fan of Chat Noir’s,” Chat purred, laying back down. “Flirting is not to be confused with love, my princess.” He felt a little at ease with her façade of being enamored with a superhero dropped into her normal way of dealing with him (in this case ignoring his flirting). That meant she was comfortable, he hoped.

“Do you think…” Marinette paused, swiveling in her chair to observe him, “If I made him something really casual, maybe comfortable, that he could wear in private…like a hoodie? He’d wear it?”

Chat’s green eye opened and regarded her, “Maybe this is a conversation for him?”

“I don’t have his number…” Marinette grabbed her phone, lighting up, “But Alya does! Thanks, Chat!”

“Wh-you’re going to call him now?” Chat sat up, alarmed, “Right now?”

Marinette waved her hand, “No, after I call Alya.” He could hear the phone ringing, and he hastily ran for her bed, jumping straight into it.

“You look fine, see you later, Marinette!” And with that, Chat Noir slipped onto her roof and vaulted away. After securing a good distance, he transformed, catching a tired Plagg. His phone rang only a moment later, and he quickly answered it, shoving Plagg into his jacket. “Um, hello?”

There was a pause on the other end, and then a little nervous giggle. “Um, h-hello? Adrien? It’s me, Marinette, from class. I mean, like, you don’t know another Marinette probably but uh…Remember when you asked me to make you a jacket designed for you? I’ve um, I’ve got some sketches and I was wondering can you text?”

“Ah, yes, yes I can. Why?” Adrian held the phone to his face, slipping into a nearby grocery shop. He headed towards the cheese section, looking them over.

Marinette could be head fiddling with something, and then finally, “Well, I wanted to send you some…some pictures, to see…”

There was a pause, and then Plagg whispered harshly at Adrien, and Adrien nodded at him before saying aloud, “Hey, I’m right by your place, why don’t I just drop in?”

“Well, that could wo-wait what?!” There was a big crashing noise from her end, and Adrien held the phone from his face while she tried to contain her clumsiness. After a moment he asked if she was okay, to which he got a frenzied answer. “Just peachy! Okay, um, do you remember where I live? The bakery-just, um, just tell my Mom you’re here for me, she’ll send you up and I’ll-see you soon!”

Adrien was halfway through ‘okay’ when the dial tone signaled she’d hung up. Perplexed, he slipped Plagg some food as he headed back towards the bakery. That was weird, but then she was always a bit weird. “Hey Plagg?”

“She’s hiding the photos of you.” Plagg said sleepily, poking his head out from Adrien’s shirt, “That’s what that noise was, that was the panic. It’s like you don’t even pay attention at all!”

“I think this is going to be harder than I thought, Plagg, I’ll have to remember what each part of me knows.” Adrien mumbled, brushing his hand in his hair to fix it. He arrived at the bakery within five minutes, and when he was led to Marinette’s room, she called for him to come in. It looked entirely different from what Chat had seen. The papers were all off the ground, a sketchbook was set up on her desk. The computer was still on, but it was on a radio station, and her wall was completely empty. Even the picture frame was gone, and in it’s place he noticed she’d placed her phone strategically to make it look like the area wasn’t bare.

Marinette looked nervously at him but offered the lounger with a gesture. He sat on it, looking at her expectantly. She had to talk someday, he wagered. There was a long silence, and he took in her room when she was looking at him, and her when she wasn’t. Finally she stood up, though her movement was stiff and unnatural. She grabbed her sketchbook, and a moment later she was sitting next to him.


	2. Buggaboo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat accidentally let's it out that he knows who Marinette is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I'm a college student and I'm on summer break. So I drove up the side of the USA and have been spending my days really busy looking at historic stuff!
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy!

“Let me show you. I don’t…know what you like,” Marinette said quietly, flipping through the pages nervously. “I didn’t know. I mean, you’re so well-dressed and so /perfect/ all the time.” She laughed slightly, “No, well, I mean, you’re perfect in general. Wait.” She sighed softly, and was relieved when he took the sketches from her hands.

He looked them over, smilingly, “These look nice. I do dress, um, perfectly. But it’s not really by choice. These are really cool.”

“They’re too fancy, aren’t they? If I knew you better, this would be much easier.” 

“Well, we can hang out some, if you’d like. If it would help!” He flashed her a smile and pretended not to notice her blush, as he pointed at one of her sketches. “I really like this one.” It was a pretty simple jacket, stream-lined, and resembled a biker’s jacket. 

Marinette laughed, and took a pen out, marking it with a check. “Alright. Well, I was thinking what if I made you a hoodie? All the boys have one, and maybe you can have something private!”

“Well,” He pretended to look surprised, “Won’t you be sad nobody sees me wearing your designs?”

“As long as you’re wearing them, I don’t care if anyone knows.” Marinette sighed dreamily, leaning on her hand. “I would be so happy if you were wearing my designs.” She caught herself staring at him and awkwardly shuffled her papers, sitting straight up, glancing away. “Chat Noir said you’re a fan of his, have you met him?”

This time his surprise was not feigned at all, and was very much genuine. He had been looking at her computer, watching to see if she’d actually ‘liked’ any of the songs or if this, too, had been watered down for him. When she mentioned Chat, his head snapped to look at her with such suddenness that even /she/ was startled. She looked nervous at once, frowning and trying to back track, but he only shook his head, “Yes, um, you can say we’ve met a few times.”

“Really?” She asked, sounding surprised herself. He watched her look at him curiously, “You’ve never said…”

“You never said he visits you privately.” Adrien said, smiling. “So we’re even, hm?”

Marinette blushed, laughed awkwardly and only said, “Yep, kay. Um, so, hoodie or leather jacket? And since you’re a fan of Chat’s…do you want anything in your design to reflect him?”

“Like what, exactly? Cat ears?” Adrien was surprised when she burst out laughing, and tried to look like he meant that to be a joke, smiling at her. He hadn’t, he actually thought it would be pretty cool to wear cat ears in his day-to-day life, too, to remind him of the freedom he tasted as Chat.

“I can, if you’d like. If not, I think it would be fun to give you a little bell on your zipper or maybe do the stitching in the green of his eyes…” Marinette tapped her lips with her pen, staring off into the distance.

“Are you a fan?”

“Oh, yes! I’ve been reading your magazines for ages!” Marinette said absently, “Your Father’s been my favorite fashion designer for eons, and then when I found out you were his son it w-“

“Chat’s,” Adrien cut in, looking amused, “Are you a fan of Chat Noir’s?”

Marinette’s face colored again, a slow pink spreading into a bright, brilliant red. Her blue eyes were focused on him, now, instead of space, and they were so wide Adrien could drown in them. Stammering, she tried to play it off, but he waved his hand easily, reassuring her he didn’t mind. Thoroughly embarrassed, Marinette stood up, putting her sketchbook onto her desk and lifting the door into her room up. Adrien was alarmed, and sat up straight, watching her.

“Hey, really, it’s not a big deal! Lots of people are fans of my Dad’s! And I think that your designs are really cool.” 

“Maybe it’s a bit late for this.” Marinette said softly, glancing at him but not looking at him. Her eyes glazed past him, over his shoulder, and for a moment he thought she was going to say something else, but instead she dropped the door shut. Adrien relaxed at once, glad he wasn’t being kicked out. For a moment she stood there, tense, and her eyes narrowed, but in a flash she was running across her room, flinging open a window and looking out across the skyline. Her back was tense, and he could tell she wanted to leap out. Instead she turned to look at him, gesturing for him to join her. The nervous manner from before was gone, evaporated, and she looked confident and sure in herself. This was his Ladybug, finally, not her nervous civilian self. He hopped up, crossing the short distance to look outside. She asked, “What do you see?”

Adrien studied the skyline himself and said, “Paris. Why?” But as he asked, the sky lit up, and lightning hit a building, followed by a loud ‘kaboom’. Marinette stared at the spot for a while, then rubbed her forehead. “You okay, Marinette?”

“Mhm, must be tired. I thought I saw…well, it doesn’t really matter in the end! You should get going before you get caught in the storm.” Marinette smiled at him, and Adrien nodded, following her to the door. “Do you want some cookies for coming over? I’ll draw more sketches tonight!”

Adrien realized he’d never answered her and said quickly, “I’d love a soft, cozy hoodie. Um, with cat ears. And you can make two, if you want, um, a leather one for school so I can show everyone how skilled you are. I’ll pay for both, but uh, if you only want to do /one/, I want the ears. Thanks for the cookies, see you in class!” And he bowed, awkwardly, and off he went, racing out into the street to try to beat the rain. 

 

“Tikki.” The rain hit the window, creating a lovely musical noise that made Marinette feel like sleeping forever. “Do /you/ like Chat?”

“I like him fine,” Tikki chirped, cuddled in a little blanket and eating a cookie, “I’ve known his kwami for decades. He’s a nice boy, I think. Perfect for our opposite. But I think it’s important to know how you feel, too! How do you think?”

“I think he’s trustworthy.”

Marinette pulled her own blanket over her shoulders, leaning on her knees and looking out the window. Girl and Kwami sat comfortably, the thrum of rain the only noise between them. If she trusted Chat so much, how come she insisted on secret identities? Wouldn’t it be good to know each other’s true faces in case something were to happen? If they each knew the other in their day-to-day lives they could make it so they never got hurt, never had stupid reasons to be missing, they could watch out for each other! The only downside was that he might know her. He’d suggested before that they go to the same school, so it wasn’t entirely impossible that he would know her. If he did, she couldn’t help but figure he’d have an opinion on her. If it wasn’t favorable would it affect how they worked as a team?

 

 

The window was open, and Chat wasn’t sure how to introduce himself. Marinette was huddled over a sewing machine, her little shoulders bunched up as she fed fabric to the machine. It was a soft, almost-fluffy black fabric she had draped on her lap. The radio was on, the machine was loud, and she was humming along. Surely she hadn’t noticed him land on her window sill, watching her as he tried to figure out what to do. Tikki was lying next to a fat red tomato that was stuck with pins. She peeped over, and then flew up to Marinette’s bed. Marinette didn’t notice, but she did notice when he rapped his gloved hand on her wall. Her eyes flicked to the tomato, then glanced around, and she was already half-standing by the time her eyes softened into recognition.

“Chat!” She cried, surprised and then annoyed, “What are you doing here? I’m not at risk!”

“How do /you/ know, Mari?” Chat asked, stepping into her room and crossing to observe her work. He ran a hand on the fabric and looked impressed, “This is cozy.”

“Ye-yes. Um, he asked for soft and cuddly.” Marinette sat back down, brushing her bangs back with her hand, “I thought that was really cute, so I went with that.” She hesitated before handing him her sketchbook, “It has soft kitty ears, since he said he was a fan of yours.”

Chat’s eyes looked over her artwork and he smiled, “This is sweet. You’re sweet, My La-incess.”

“Hm?” She looked up at him, “You’re mumbling, Chat.”

“Sorry. I think this is very cute, he will look like a totally different boy in this than he does every day.” Chat smiled, handing her sketchbook back to her. She tucked it away, seeming pleased. “It’s so soft, I want to curl up in it forever.”

Marinette laughed, winking and pushing his hands from it, “Well, kitty, I can make you one too if you’d like!” She was surprised when he lit up, and she laughed again, “What about a blanket? Then you won’t have to worry about having /three/ pairs of ears!”

“Okay! But won’t you be busy?” Chat asked, glancing down at her feet where a bag of more fabric lay, “You look like you have two projects going on.”

Marinette glanced at her feet too, but then smiled, “I think I’d like to make you something more, Chat. That can wait! He wanted cuddly, anyway, I don’t think it will hurt too much for him to wait for the ‘cool’ jacket…winter’s a way off anyway. But we can’t have our heroes being cold!” 

“True,” Chat looked at the jacket again, touching it. This was going to be for /him/, specially made, by his lady! And then she was going to make him the other one he liked, too, but now she was offering to make /Chat/ something special too. Both of his sides mattered to her. Relief flooded through him; even if she acted like he was a nuisance sometimes, they were a team and she appreciated him. He hadn't noticed he'd started to gently play with the fabric, but Marinette laughed and tried to push his hand away again, but he captured hers in his instead. “You’re so kind.” He told her, and leaned over her hand, brushing his lips against it. “Thank you.”

“Ah,” Marinette pulled her hand away, blushing, “It’s not even started yet, Chat. I don’t even know anything about you except that you love Ladybug and you are a cat. Sort of.”

“You can ask me things!” Chat dropped onto her couch, reclining lazily and picking up the book that was sitting nearby, “Whatever you want!”

Marinette thought for a moment and then asked, “Do you really love her?”

“Ladybug?” 

“Mhmmmm.”

“I think so, yes.” Adrien looked off into the distance, his brow bunching together as he concentrated. “Yes, I…didn’t know every part of My Lady until a little while ago, but even her civilian side is really special and I think-”

“You’re being lied to,” Marinette put in, suddenly, looking alarmed. Her eyes were wide and she was standing, looking around for something. Chat sat up, confused, and then realized he’d slipped. Dammit. “You can’t possibly know who she is? Don’t you guys have a pact or?”

“Yeees.” Chat said, wincing. He sat up, watching her look around her room. She was climbing her stairs when he said, “We do.”

“Th-then how do you know her civilian self?” 

“She showed me?” His voice increased in pitch at the end, and he was forcing a smile, trying to play this off. “She um, she showed me.”

“She couldn’t have!” Marinette told him, seriously, “You’ve been tricked! You’ve got to take her out, you’ve got to tell Ladybug!” Her own voice was getting kind of hysterical, and she tossed her pillows around trying to find Tikki. Someone out there was pretending to be /her/, and confessing to Chat and that was just bad all around! If this person could fool her own partner, then this was very dangerous.

Chat rubbed his neck, awkwardly, and then called up to her. “Buggaboo, come down.”

Marinette stopped, heart hammering, staring wide-eyed at her wall. Her whole body felt like ice, she was certain her heart was going to explode anyway, despite her body refusing to move. He called out again, and her head appeared over the side, her body moving on its own now. “What.”

“Come down, my lady.” He stood at the base of her bed, earnest, ears back, pout on his face. “I…think we need to talk.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marinette heard herself saying, though her soul was floating somewhere else now. She felt, heard, and saw things at a distance. She was laughing, but she felt like she was drowning. “I’m not anyone special! I’m only Marinette, just an aspiring fashion designer. Not your lady. You’ve misunderstood something!” She was laughing more, swatting at him playfully. Her machine was loud in this state, when she started sewing again.

“Marinette,” Chat said softly, stepping up behind her. She felt his hands on hers, wrapping around her from behind, his chin on her shoulder. “My lady, I’m sorry, I should have told you as soon as I knew. It was an accident. I was going the long way home, I heard you talking. I looked over, and it was Marinette. Soft, sweet, gentle Marinette.” 

Marinette was regaining feeling, and her only thought was ‘no’, kind of on repeat. Every word he said, every touch he did, was met with a resounding, a full, a passionate ‘no’. The word was taking over her thoughts, it was filling her sight, her senses, and soon she was saying it out loud, softly at first. Each time she said it, it gained strength. Tikki was in front of her, and she felt the soft Kwami’s hands on her cheek, drawing her back to reality. Chat’s face was at her neck, nuzzling her there, apologizing, but she didn’t want it. She sighed softly, pulling from him, extracting from his embrace.

“My lady?”

“Chat,” Marinette stood firmly, looked him head-on, and he recognized her firm and secure expression from battle. This was the look of a woman who was trying to figure out what to do, to strategize against her enemy. This was her newest enemy, and she was trying to think logically about how to approach this. He was so earnest, so eager to make sure she wasn't mad. Certainly it really was an accident, she knew he'd never betray her trust. So in that case, it wouldn't be fair to be angry with him. Finally she said, “You weren’t supposed to know who I am. But I guess it’s too late.” She smiled after that, and her stance relaxed. Tikki floated to her shoulder, and Marinette touched her kwami gently. “This is Tikki, Tikki this is Chat.”

“Nice to meet you in person.” Chat bowed, smiling at the kwami. Tikki flitted to the front of his face, circling him.

“Nice to meet you in person, Chat Noir.” Tikki smiled, then added in a whisper, “Give her time.” And off she flitted, to the desk where a cookie waited.

Chat looked back to Marinette, who didn’t look angry at all. Maybe he was imagining it, but she looked…relieved. Her shoulders relaxed, her eyes were soft, and she was smiling. Maybe this was good!

“So do we know each other at school?” Marinette asked, “You thought we might. Were you right?”

“Oh, how rude of me! My lady, let me show you my secret identity too!”

“No!” Marinette cried, rushing to him, clasping his ringed hand in hers, “No, no. I didn’t want anyone to know who I was, nothing’s changed. I believe you, it was an accident. If I find out who you are by accident, then, fine. But I don’t want to know. I don’t want you to tell me. Please.”

Doubtful, Chat regarded her quietly. She was really serious about this secret identity thing. “As you wish, my lady. We do. Know each other.”

“Hm.” Marinette looked thoughtful, then smiled, “I’m glad you like me anyway.”

“What!” Chat looked scandalized, then smiled, “Don’t talk down on my lady, Marinette. She’s wonderful in all things she chooses to do. You’re more wonderful than I could have thought.” He reached out, playfully pulling her towards him by her hand. He stepped around her in a little dance, twirling her, “Think: You could have been Chloe!”

Marinette wrinkled her nose, “That would be much worse!” She followed his little dance, smiling at him. “You’re good with this, Chat.”

“I’ve taken classes in lots of dance! It’s important for what I do!”

“Football?” Marinette teased, “I meant comforting me. You’re very good at it. Thank you, Chat.”

“My pleasure, my lady.”

Marinette broke their contact, falling into her desk chair. Her eyes sparkled and her body seemed to relax into her chair. He’d never seen her so at ease, except perhaps once before, when he’d caught Marinette sketching during lunch. The sewing machine started up again, and her humming struck up again as she worked. Chat leaned over her, watching her stitches lining up, taking form. The thread was green, for his eyes he imagined.

“Chat.”

“Yes?”

“Must you lean over me so?” Marinette looked up, and he smiled down at her. He backed off, watching her from his position on her couch. Her features were calm as she stitched and worked on his jacket. The most endearing thing was how she bobbed and hummed while working, her pigtails bouncing gently. He was blind for never noticing her before he knew she was his lady.

The two sat in relative silence, Chat watching Marinette work on her project. Finally she stretched, standing up and turning off a little lamp over her workspace. She turned, and looked surprised. Chat was surprised by her surprised and stood up too.  
“You’re still here?”

“Ah, yes, you looked so peaceful working…” Chat smiled, trying to remind himself that although her secret was gone, he could be as flirty as he wanted still. “And you look even lovelier with all your features showing, my lady.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, “Okay, Cat-anova, get out.” 

Chat bowed, and took a running leap out her window. Marinette snapped it close behind him, watching him jump over roofs on his way home. Stretching once more she climbed into her bed, trying not to think about what he’d said as he held her in his arms. Sweet, gentle, soft. Despite her reaching constantly out for other thoughts, any thoughts, she kept coming back to that. Sweet, gentle, soft. Still his warmth was felt on her back, his desperate cuddling in the nape of her neck. Marinette’s head swam with Chat as she fell asleep, and she didn’t even realize she was hoping he’d keep coming back.


End file.
